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Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Assignment 8 Blog about my grouops PPT project
My groups power point project with my partner is goig good. My group have desided to do our project over "The techniques of technology using the web". Yes, my partner does help me work faster and harder. She has a very creative mind to create good ideas ofr ppt. I feel great abouit my partner she is a great person.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
#2 journal reveiw
Mitch Miller jmiller10@leo.tamu-commerce.edu
ETECH 424 10-9-08
There is a clear analogy between the improvisational actor and the teacher. Teaching in the college classroom has that same mix of premeditation and improvisation that effectively communicates with the audience. The theatre metaphor is particularly useful for a teacher’s development of presentational communication skills. A teacher’s “performance” can be enhanced using the same preparation, rehearsal, and audience analysis techniques utilized by actors. Of particular importance are overcoming performance anxiety, effectively combining preparation and improvisation, supporting verbal messages with appropriate nonverbal behavior, and learning to play multiple roles to communicate effectively with a variety of student “audiences.’’
Ewald,Luara.(Summer2005) Vol. 53 Issue 3.Commedia Dell ‘Arte Academica.
Summary
The Commedia Dell ‘Arte Academic involves the creativity of the human consept to create a character through an improvisation on pre-arranged synopses involving a group of familiar formalized chararters and a series of stock situations that are created through the learning experience for students and teachers playing the same roles as actors and directors to learn how to use different skills to better communicate with a variety of people that have their own unique style gestures, languages, postures, and expressions into a colorful personality that better communicate with the audience. As a result, the teacher should understand to encourage students to understand how to use the Using of their human instrument to effectively communicate to the audience. Therefore, students are able to collaborate with their teacher and classmates to create the roles of the actors, directors, and designers. The teacher’s main role is to instruct the roles of the participating cast into playing the key “human instrument” for communication. After the play the teacher instructs the students ask the audience if they have any questions about the play. In comparison, in the class room after a lecture from a given academic subject when the teacher asks for questions and concerns that they may have about the lectured subject matter discussed in their class. In addition, to asking questions to the class the teacher must be prepared to answer certain individual questions that will need to be evaluated and explained in a the most effective way that the students will understand the details illustrated in the lecture. On the other hand, teachers need to understand how to involve different individuals that think differently. In the same way students as actors need to understand how to use their unique “human instruments” of communication skills when performing in front of a diverse variety of people in the audience. In otherwords, the student actors need to understand how to effectively communicate with a certain audience. In the same way, when writing a research paper or play or story one needs to understand what kind of audience they are talking to in their writing.
Reflection
This article gave me an insight about how import correct preparartion, improvisation, good communication skills are assential to constructing various ways of communication that will inform the audience of listeners, readers, writers, and technicains.
ETECH 424 10-9-08
There is a clear analogy between the improvisational actor and the teacher. Teaching in the college classroom has that same mix of premeditation and improvisation that effectively communicates with the audience. The theatre metaphor is particularly useful for a teacher’s development of presentational communication skills. A teacher’s “performance” can be enhanced using the same preparation, rehearsal, and audience analysis techniques utilized by actors. Of particular importance are overcoming performance anxiety, effectively combining preparation and improvisation, supporting verbal messages with appropriate nonverbal behavior, and learning to play multiple roles to communicate effectively with a variety of student “audiences.’’
Ewald,Luara.(Summer2005) Vol. 53 Issue 3.Commedia Dell ‘Arte Academica.
Summary
The Commedia Dell ‘Arte Academic involves the creativity of the human consept to create a character through an improvisation on pre-arranged synopses involving a group of familiar formalized chararters and a series of stock situations that are created through the learning experience for students and teachers playing the same roles as actors and directors to learn how to use different skills to better communicate with a variety of people that have their own unique style gestures, languages, postures, and expressions into a colorful personality that better communicate with the audience. As a result, the teacher should understand to encourage students to understand how to use the Using of their human instrument to effectively communicate to the audience. Therefore, students are able to collaborate with their teacher and classmates to create the roles of the actors, directors, and designers. The teacher’s main role is to instruct the roles of the participating cast into playing the key “human instrument” for communication. After the play the teacher instructs the students ask the audience if they have any questions about the play. In comparison, in the class room after a lecture from a given academic subject when the teacher asks for questions and concerns that they may have about the lectured subject matter discussed in their class. In addition, to asking questions to the class the teacher must be prepared to answer certain individual questions that will need to be evaluated and explained in a the most effective way that the students will understand the details illustrated in the lecture. On the other hand, teachers need to understand how to involve different individuals that think differently. In the same way students as actors need to understand how to use their unique “human instruments” of communication skills when performing in front of a diverse variety of people in the audience. In otherwords, the student actors need to understand how to effectively communicate with a certain audience. In the same way, when writing a research paper or play or story one needs to understand what kind of audience they are talking to in their writing.
Reflection
This article gave me an insight about how import correct preparartion, improvisation, good communication skills are assential to constructing various ways of communication that will inform the audience of listeners, readers, writers, and technicains.
Commedia dell’arte. A form of popular
Italian comedy which had its greatest
vogue in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
It was performed by specially
trained troupes of actors who improvised
on pre-arranged synopses involving a group
of familiar formalized characters and a
series of stock situations. (Taylor 1967, 66)
t will seem highly irreverent to many to
compare the high profession of teaching
with a four- to five-hundred-year-old
form of popular stage entertainment, but I
believe anyone who has moved from theater
into teaching will clearly see the
analogy. Although teaching is rarely
comedic (and hopefully even more rarely
tragic), there is in the classroom a mix of
preordination and improvisation that
characterized this early form of theater.
The excitement of commedia dell’arte
was in the improvisational nature of the
performance. Stock characters (young
lovers, clever servants, braggarts, lecherous
old men, and so on), identified by
masks well known to the audience, moved
through a familiar predetermined scenario
(young wife deceiving old husband, clever
servants managing inept masters). With no
script, an actor-leader influenced the cast,
but this “director” had little control over
his fellow actors once the performance
began. Individual actors, while always in
character with the mask they wore, improvised
their lines. The audience and the
other actors knew how characters would
act and respond but not exactly what they
would say. And while both cast and audience
knew the general plot, how the troupe
moved from beginning to end would
change with each performance.
In a college classroom setting, the
teacher can be viewed as analogous to the
actor-manager. Students are both the cast
of characters and the audience. The scenario
is predetermined by both the syllabus
and each day’s lesson plan. Most
classes have a mix of predefined characters
(the scholar, the class clown, the nervous
freshman, the know-it-all senior, the
sleeper, the talker, the adult learner, and so
on). Of course, a teacher can never assume
any student is a one-dimensional character,
and all of us in real life often wear
more than one “mask” simultaneously.
Each student is unique and must be treated
as such. There is also a danger of assuming
that first impressions (and the stereotypic
characteristics mentioned above) are accurate.
Nevertheless, the overall analogy to
the commedia dell’arte holds true: the scenario
is set, the cast of characters enter,
and the performance begins.
In the classroom, the object is to
engage the learners and lead them to an
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
ACADEMICA
Laura A. Ewald
Laura A. Ewald is a reference/instruction librarian
at Murray State University.
Abstract. There is a clear analogy between the improvisational
actor and the teacher. Teaching in the college
classroom has that same mix of premeditation and
improvisation that effectively communicates with the
audience. The theater metaphor is particularly useful for
a teacher’s development of presentational communication
skills. A teacher’s “performance” can be enhanced
using the same preparation, rehearsal, and audience
analysis techniques utilized by actors. Of particular
importance are overcoming performance anxiety, effectively
combining preparation and improvisation, supporting
verbal messages with appropriate nonverbal
behavior, and learning to play multiple roles to communicate
effectively with a variety of student “audiences.”
I
understanding of the day’s topic. The success
of this endeavor depends on the
communicative interaction between
teacher and students.
The Teacher as Actor
All the World’s a Stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
(As You Like It, 7.1.139–42)
As Shakespeare noted four hundred
years ago, all of us are actors of one kind
or another throughout our lives. The theater
metaphor becomes even stronger for
the teacher who understands the process
of acting to be “the using of the human
instrument to effect communication”
(Hodge 1994, 69). Taken in this light, theater
itself can be seen simply as communication
of the playwright’s ideas to an
audience. In the theater, this communication
is effected by directors through their
agents—actors and designers (69). In the
classroom, however, the teacher plays all
these roles—director, designer, and actor.
He might even be considered the playwright,
inasmuch as he designs the
course, writes the syllabus, and creates
assignments. The teacher, then, is the ultimate
“human instrument” for communication,
a one-person show, whose effectiveness
depends on his capabilities in
communicating. As the actor works to
communicate a play to her audience, so a
teacher works to communicate ideas to
his students.
The teacher has the starring role in a
classroom setting, and no matter the circumstances,
the show must go on.
Whether it is a hit or a bust depends on
the teacher’s “performance.” The key to
success depends on how well the “human
instrument” (Hodge 1994, 69) communicates
the context of the “play.”
Performance Anxiety
The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts
working the minute you are born and never
stops . . . until you get up to speak in public.
(Ball 1996, 120)
One of the most important communication
skills for both teachers and actors
is the ability to overcome public speaking
anxiety, which can be defined as “a fear
and uneasiness caused by the potentially
threatening situation (real or anticipated)
of speaking before a group of people”
(MacIntyre and MacDonald 1998, 359).
Two approaches to the understanding of
performance apprehension are a trait
approach, which considers a general fear
of public communication, regardless of
the situation; and a state approach, which
considers a fear specific to a given communication
situation (Divito 1998, 92).
Three main elements affect speaker, or
performance, anxiety. First is the speaker’s
own perceived incompetence, which
stems from a realization of lack of communication
skills and experience, past
history of failure, and the degree to which
the speaker expects to be evaluated by the
audience. The audience itself is the second
element. The level of anxiety of a
speaker can be affected by the audience’s
friendliness, its familiarity to the speaker,
and what Divito calls its “degree of dissimilarity”
(1998, 96), or how much or
little the speaker has in common with the
audience. The third element involved in
speaker anxiety is the context of communication.
This involves such things as the
speaker’s status relative to the audience;
how familiar or unfamiliar the situation
is; whether the situation is academic, professional,
or social in nature; and the size
of the audience.
All of these elements contribute to the
speaker’s anticipation of the performance.
Two theories of speaker apprehension and
its management (Divito 1998, 96–97) provide
means by which a public speaker,
such as a teacher, can control apprehension.
First, cognitive restructuring holds
that your own “unrealistic expectations of
perfection” (Ball 1996, 123) can lead to
heightened anxiety. Performance visualization,
with focus on success and positive
thinking, can help reduce anxiety. Second,
systematic desensitization assumes that
apprehension is learned and can, therefore,
be unlearned (Divito 1998, 97). This
involves preparation and practice. By creating
a hierarchy of apprehensive situations
and rehearsing appropriate behavior
from the least threatening to the most
threatening, a speaker can become comfortable
visualizing the necessary behavior.
Teachers can learn the skills necessary
for effective speaker communication by
preparing and practicing, thinking positively,
becoming familiar with the situation,
putting communication apprehension
in perspective, trying to relax, and
acquiring experience (98).
A teacher can learn from studying the
methods used by actors to reduce performance
anxiety. Physiological and psychological
exercises, such as stretching,
deep breathing, vocal exercises, positive
self-talk, and positive thinking about the
audience, can help promote relaxation
(Ball 1996, 125–28). Using appropriate
humor can comfort both the teacher and
the students. Most important, a teacher
needs to be prepared. Know the material
inside and out. Rehearse it over and over.
Nervousness is fear of failure. Before the
opening of Annie Get Your Gun, someone
asked Ethel Merman if she was nervous.
She replied, “I know my lines. What is
there to be nervous about?” Therein lies the
secret of conquering anxiety. Become message-
centered and audience-centered, not
self-centered. Stop thinking of yourself,
and start thinking of your message. (Ball
1996, 124)
Preparation and Improvisation
Improvising requires the utmost attention
to what the other improvisor does to you,
because you have to adjust to him before
you know what to do yourself. (Hodge
1994, 72)
At first glance, it might seem as though
preparation and improvisation are on two
distinct ends of a spectrum. “If you are
fully prepared, you won’t need to improvise,”
or “you will need to improvise if
you are not fully prepared.” However, for
actors and teachers, successful improvisation
depends on thorough preparation.
Not only must the actor know his character
and the scene, but he must be able to
read the other characters as well; not only
must the teacher know her material, but
she must understand and be able to read
her students as well for there to be effective
communication.
Half of improvisation is anticipation.
The actor in the commedia dell’arte may
not know exactly what another actor might
say, but he must know how the other characters
will act in order to react effectively
within the scenario. In much the same
way, a teacher may not know exactly what
questions will be asked, but she must listen
very carefully to her students in order to
give the appropriate response. She must
know both audience and material so well
116 COLLEGE TEACHING
that any improvisation—in this case a
deviation from the planned lesson—will
be effective communication.
Taking questions allows the teacher to
clarify or emphasize points (Rafe 1990,
127). It also reveals the students’ understanding
or misunderstanding.
Responding to questions after a talk can be
the most effective way to get your points
across to any audience. Audiences generally
remember longest what they hear last, and
they retain more of what they participate in
developing, discussing, or exploring. When
you encourage audience members to ask
questions, you evoke a higher level of interest
in what follows—your answers. (127)
Taking questions from students can be
nerve-wracking, however, if a teacher is
not thoroughly prepared. This is where
improvisational skills and deep preparation
intersect. In the classroom, improvisation
should be a tool used to enhance communication—
rewording explanations, providing
additional examples, and solidifying
arguments—not a desperate measure by
which to survive until the end of a class
period. The keys to successful improvisation
in the classroom include knowing the
material well but also knowing the students
(the audience) well enough to anticipate
the kinds of questions they will ask.
More than Words
Audiences form impressions of you before
you say a word. Your total presentation
consists of more than just content: It
includes your voice and your body language.
In fact, of the total message your
audience receives, only 7 percent comes to
them through content. The rest is comprised
of your voice (38 percent) and your
non-verbals (55 percent). (Rafe 1990, 24)
Actors call it stage business—the way
one moves, gestures, uses the voice, or
handles a prop. “Nonverbal behavior is the
most powerful tool an actor has to portray
a character . . . The same is true for persons
dealing with real life situations” (Ball
1996, 70). Teachers need to be consciously
aware of nonverbal communication elements
in order to become both better message
senders and better message receivers
(Miller 1986, 6). Both quality acting and
quality teaching require nonverbal elements
of communication in order to effectively
communicate with an audience.
The nonverbal elements of communication
are found in three areas. Paralanguage
is the vocal part of speech other
than words, including pauses, silence,
tone, pitch, rate of speech, volume, and
voice quality. Kinesics is the study of the
body’s physical movements, such as gestures,
facial expressions (including eye
contact), and posture. These will also
include the use of props (such as eyeglasses),
dress, and touching. Proxemics is the
use of space and can communicate much
about status, comfort level, and interest.
One of the most important things to
remember about all areas of nonverbal
communication behavior is that the
meaning of these nonverbal elements can
only be defined within a cultural context.
Teachers must be aware of the cultural
diversity within the classroom. For example,
making direct eye contact may be
affirming for American students but may
make a culturally traditional female
Japanese student uncomfortable. It is also
important to keep in mind that many
times, meanings can vary greatly from
individual to individual within the same
cultural context. Students from different
regions within the United States will be
comfortable with varying ranges of physical
proximity to an instructor.
Teachers must learn all they can about
their students in order to communicate
effectively with them. The use of a simple
student questionnaire at the beginning of
class can provide background information,
such as hometown, class standing, college
major, and interests. One-on-one sessions
throughout the course can help teachers to
learn about students’ personalities and
communication styles, which can contribute
to effective classroom interaction.
Used positively and consistently, nonverbals
can support the verbal messages
communicated. Teachers need to learn to
“send students positive signals that consequently
reinforce learning” (Miller 1986,
6). Used negatively, they can at best confuse
students and at worst turn them off to
both the teacher and learning (7–8). Teachers
need to show they are responsive to
students’ needs by listening to student
feedback and modifying their behavior
when appropriate. Making eye contact
with students can generate a psychological
closeness that reinforces the teacher’s verbal
expression of interest in each student.
Something as simple as coming out from
behind the podium and moving about the
classroom can help to reinforce teachers’
commitment to support their students.
Research supports the importance of
teachers’ effective use of nonverbal elements.
Nonverbal behavior reflecting
involvement and conversation skill is positively
associated with both initial judgments
of instructor competence and
favorable first impressions of course content
(Guerrero and Miller 1998, 33).
Teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors,
such as eye contact, head nods, smiles,
vocal animation, open body posture, and
other “approach-oriented behavior” have
been directly related to affective learning
and indirectly linked to increased student
classroom participation (Andersen et al.
1999, 371). And finally, teachers who
practice nonverbal immediacy behaviors
cause students to acquire or increase positive
attitudes toward the subject and/or
teacher, and in turn, this affective learning
causes students to learn cognitively
(Rodriguez, Plax, and Kearney 1996,
296). Nonverbal communication has its
most direct instructional impact on the
affective domain of learning. In addition
to learning facts and concepts, students
also learn attitudes towards the content
(Andersen 1986, 44–45).
It is equally important for the teacher to
be aware of the nonverbal messages being
sent by students. “When you speak your
audience will be giving you constant feedback
from the moment you begin” (Rafe
1990, 109). Clues—some subtle and some
not—tell how well one is communicating.
Nods, smiles, direct eye contact, forwardleaning
posture, and the like will tell the
teacher that the messages are being
received and understood. Doodling,
slouching, yawning, refusal to make eye
contact, and glazed expressions are the
not-so-subtle nonverbals telling the
teacher that communication is not happening.
If in doubt, ask questions (preferably
questions that cannot be answered
with a “yes” or a “no”), encouraging students
to verbally express their understanding
or misunderstanding of the topic. Eye
contact with the speaker, as well as a supportive,
open posture, can help establish a
more conversational tone (111).
Learning to appropriately utilize and
recognize nonverbal messages can make
a teacher’s communication more effective.
Teachers need to remember that
Vol. 53/No. 3 117
whether or not they are speaking at any
given moment, their nonverbals—intentional
and unintentional—continue to
communicate. “‘You cannot not communicate!’
Even when you are silent, you are
communicating something” (Ball 1996,
155). Teachers need to be aware of what
their students are “hearing” even when
they are not speaking.
A Double Role
The fourth level . . . is created by having our
actors play more than one role. For instance,
in the screenplay portions of the show,
Stone’s secretary, Oolie, is played by the
same actress who plays . . . Buddy Fidler’s
secretary, Donna . . . Lest any of this sound
confusing, the reader is asked to remember
that, when performed on stage, the show is
color-coded: the real life passages staged in
vivid colors, the reel life ones in glorious
black and white. (Gelbert 1990, 4–5)
One of the most challenging aspects of
teaching at a college level today is presented
by the changing characteristics of
undergraduate students. In 1995–96, 28.6
percent of the total number of undergraduate
students enrolled in four-year institutions
in the United States were over the age
of twenty-five. In two-year institutions, it
was an astonishing 51.9 percent (U.S.
Department of Education 2002, 248). Can
the needs of the nontraditional adult learner
be met with traditional teaching methods?
Do traditional undergraduates and
adult learners expect the same things of a
teacher? And can a teacher who faces a
mixed class—and is without the actor’s
luxury of exiting for a costume/character
change between scenes—fulfill the needs
of both groups of students?
According to Comadena and Semlak,
while both groups of students agree on
what makes a bad teacher, they differ in
their perceptions of how good teachers
communicate and use power in the classroom:
Adult learners, compared to traditional
undergraduates, expect a good teacher to be
less contentious, less attentive, less dominant,
and less likely to use reward power.
Conversely, traditional undergraduates,
compared to adult learners, expect an effective
teacher to be more contentious, more
attentive, more dominating, and more likely
to use reward power. (1993, 11–12)
Adult learners want to be treated as
equals in an informal classroom setting,
while traditional undergraduates expect the
formality of the teacher/student relationship
associated with teacher authority.
Knowles characterizes the traditional
relationship between student and teacher
as reactive and the required relationship
between adult learners and the teacher as
proactive (1990, 209). According to
Knowles, a teacher in a traditional classroom
depends on the student’s willingness
to be dependent, respect authority,
be committed to learning as a means to an
end (such as a degree), and maintain a
competitive relationship with fellow students.
“Traditional pedagogy conditions
the student to respond to the teacher’s
stimuli; the initiative in the transaction is
almost wholly in the teacher; the role of
the student is to react” (209). The student
requires an ability to listen uncritically,
retain information, take notes, and predict
exam questions.
Adult learners, however, look to the
expertise of the teacher to aid them in a
collaborative relationship. They show
intellectual curiosity, have some knowledge
of resources available, have a
healthy skepticism toward authority, and
are already “commit[ted] to learning as a
developmental process” (Knowles 1990,
210). For adult learners, “learning will
take place for the most part only if the
learner takes the initiative; teachers are
not as omnipresent” (209).
How does a teacher play this double
role with a mixed class of traditional
undergraduates and adult learners? The
basic tools for presentational communication
are effective for both—preparation
and organization—as both groups associate
teacher expertise with teacher effectiveness
(Comadena and Semlak 1993,
5). The key to successful classroom communication
requires the discovery of a
happy medium while presenting to the
whole class. But teachers must also
“adapt their messages to their audiences”
(3), making an effort to get to know individuals
in order to bring about effective
one-on-one communication with those
from diverse student groups.
Conclusion
Act, action, active, actor all go back to [the]
Latin [verb] agere [meaning] “do, perform.”
(Ayto 1990, 7)
To teach someone is etymologically to
“show” them something. (522)
“Show, don’t tell!” is an admonition as
appropriate to presentational verbal communication
as it is to written communication.
Any actor will tell you that there is far
more to acting than simply saying the lines
of a script. The best teachers will also
agree that there is far more to teaching
than simply the “telling” of information.
Preparation, the ability to improvise
when necessary, and knowledge of the
audience are all important elements that
contribute to a strong performance in the
classroom. Because expertise has been
shown to be an important factor in
teacher effectiveness with all students, a
teacher must know the material and have
it well-organized for the classroom. But
flexibility is also a key ingredient. Teachers
need to be able to improvise on a
theme in order to communicate with all
their students no matter their class standing,
level of knowledge, or life experience.
And finally, effective communicators
will adapt their messages to their
audiences (Comadena and Semlak 1993,
3). Teachers must learn all they can about
their students in order to communicate
effectively with them.
A good teacher is an effective “human
instrument” (Hodge 1994, 69) for communication.
Like actors, teachers utilize
not only verbal skills but a variety of
nonverbal behaviors as well to communicate
with their students. “How you
talk, how you move, how you dress,
what you mean by what you say, where
you sit . . . if you rehearse and perfect
[these] skills, you will communicate
with confidence and clarity” (Ball 1996,
179). However the scenario is played out
on any given day, the audience will reap
the benefits of a successful communicative
interaction.
Key words: theater, communication,
interaction
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Italian comedy which had its greatest
vogue in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
It was performed by specially
trained troupes of actors who improvised
on pre-arranged synopses involving a group
of familiar formalized characters and a
series of stock situations. (Taylor 1967, 66)
t will seem highly irreverent to many to
compare the high profession of teaching
with a four- to five-hundred-year-old
form of popular stage entertainment, but I
believe anyone who has moved from theater
into teaching will clearly see the
analogy. Although teaching is rarely
comedic (and hopefully even more rarely
tragic), there is in the classroom a mix of
preordination and improvisation that
characterized this early form of theater.
The excitement of commedia dell’arte
was in the improvisational nature of the
performance. Stock characters (young
lovers, clever servants, braggarts, lecherous
old men, and so on), identified by
masks well known to the audience, moved
through a familiar predetermined scenario
(young wife deceiving old husband, clever
servants managing inept masters). With no
script, an actor-leader influenced the cast,
but this “director” had little control over
his fellow actors once the performance
began. Individual actors, while always in
character with the mask they wore, improvised
their lines. The audience and the
other actors knew how characters would
act and respond but not exactly what they
would say. And while both cast and audience
knew the general plot, how the troupe
moved from beginning to end would
change with each performance.
In a college classroom setting, the
teacher can be viewed as analogous to the
actor-manager. Students are both the cast
of characters and the audience. The scenario
is predetermined by both the syllabus
and each day’s lesson plan. Most
classes have a mix of predefined characters
(the scholar, the class clown, the nervous
freshman, the know-it-all senior, the
sleeper, the talker, the adult learner, and so
on). Of course, a teacher can never assume
any student is a one-dimensional character,
and all of us in real life often wear
more than one “mask” simultaneously.
Each student is unique and must be treated
as such. There is also a danger of assuming
that first impressions (and the stereotypic
characteristics mentioned above) are accurate.
Nevertheless, the overall analogy to
the commedia dell’arte holds true: the scenario
is set, the cast of characters enter,
and the performance begins.
In the classroom, the object is to
engage the learners and lead them to an
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
ACADEMICA
Laura A. Ewald
Laura A. Ewald is a reference/instruction librarian
at Murray State University.
Abstract. There is a clear analogy between the improvisational
actor and the teacher. Teaching in the college
classroom has that same mix of premeditation and
improvisation that effectively communicates with the
audience. The theater metaphor is particularly useful for
a teacher’s development of presentational communication
skills. A teacher’s “performance” can be enhanced
using the same preparation, rehearsal, and audience
analysis techniques utilized by actors. Of particular
importance are overcoming performance anxiety, effectively
combining preparation and improvisation, supporting
verbal messages with appropriate nonverbal
behavior, and learning to play multiple roles to communicate
effectively with a variety of student “audiences.”
I
understanding of the day’s topic. The success
of this endeavor depends on the
communicative interaction between
teacher and students.
The Teacher as Actor
All the World’s a Stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
(As You Like It, 7.1.139–42)
As Shakespeare noted four hundred
years ago, all of us are actors of one kind
or another throughout our lives. The theater
metaphor becomes even stronger for
the teacher who understands the process
of acting to be “the using of the human
instrument to effect communication”
(Hodge 1994, 69). Taken in this light, theater
itself can be seen simply as communication
of the playwright’s ideas to an
audience. In the theater, this communication
is effected by directors through their
agents—actors and designers (69). In the
classroom, however, the teacher plays all
these roles—director, designer, and actor.
He might even be considered the playwright,
inasmuch as he designs the
course, writes the syllabus, and creates
assignments. The teacher, then, is the ultimate
“human instrument” for communication,
a one-person show, whose effectiveness
depends on his capabilities in
communicating. As the actor works to
communicate a play to her audience, so a
teacher works to communicate ideas to
his students.
The teacher has the starring role in a
classroom setting, and no matter the circumstances,
the show must go on.
Whether it is a hit or a bust depends on
the teacher’s “performance.” The key to
success depends on how well the “human
instrument” (Hodge 1994, 69) communicates
the context of the “play.”
Performance Anxiety
The mind is a wonderful thing. It starts
working the minute you are born and never
stops . . . until you get up to speak in public.
(Ball 1996, 120)
One of the most important communication
skills for both teachers and actors
is the ability to overcome public speaking
anxiety, which can be defined as “a fear
and uneasiness caused by the potentially
threatening situation (real or anticipated)
of speaking before a group of people”
(MacIntyre and MacDonald 1998, 359).
Two approaches to the understanding of
performance apprehension are a trait
approach, which considers a general fear
of public communication, regardless of
the situation; and a state approach, which
considers a fear specific to a given communication
situation (Divito 1998, 92).
Three main elements affect speaker, or
performance, anxiety. First is the speaker’s
own perceived incompetence, which
stems from a realization of lack of communication
skills and experience, past
history of failure, and the degree to which
the speaker expects to be evaluated by the
audience. The audience itself is the second
element. The level of anxiety of a
speaker can be affected by the audience’s
friendliness, its familiarity to the speaker,
and what Divito calls its “degree of dissimilarity”
(1998, 96), or how much or
little the speaker has in common with the
audience. The third element involved in
speaker anxiety is the context of communication.
This involves such things as the
speaker’s status relative to the audience;
how familiar or unfamiliar the situation
is; whether the situation is academic, professional,
or social in nature; and the size
of the audience.
All of these elements contribute to the
speaker’s anticipation of the performance.
Two theories of speaker apprehension and
its management (Divito 1998, 96–97) provide
means by which a public speaker,
such as a teacher, can control apprehension.
First, cognitive restructuring holds
that your own “unrealistic expectations of
perfection” (Ball 1996, 123) can lead to
heightened anxiety. Performance visualization,
with focus on success and positive
thinking, can help reduce anxiety. Second,
systematic desensitization assumes that
apprehension is learned and can, therefore,
be unlearned (Divito 1998, 97). This
involves preparation and practice. By creating
a hierarchy of apprehensive situations
and rehearsing appropriate behavior
from the least threatening to the most
threatening, a speaker can become comfortable
visualizing the necessary behavior.
Teachers can learn the skills necessary
for effective speaker communication by
preparing and practicing, thinking positively,
becoming familiar with the situation,
putting communication apprehension
in perspective, trying to relax, and
acquiring experience (98).
A teacher can learn from studying the
methods used by actors to reduce performance
anxiety. Physiological and psychological
exercises, such as stretching,
deep breathing, vocal exercises, positive
self-talk, and positive thinking about the
audience, can help promote relaxation
(Ball 1996, 125–28). Using appropriate
humor can comfort both the teacher and
the students. Most important, a teacher
needs to be prepared. Know the material
inside and out. Rehearse it over and over.
Nervousness is fear of failure. Before the
opening of Annie Get Your Gun, someone
asked Ethel Merman if she was nervous.
She replied, “I know my lines. What is
there to be nervous about?” Therein lies the
secret of conquering anxiety. Become message-
centered and audience-centered, not
self-centered. Stop thinking of yourself,
and start thinking of your message. (Ball
1996, 124)
Preparation and Improvisation
Improvising requires the utmost attention
to what the other improvisor does to you,
because you have to adjust to him before
you know what to do yourself. (Hodge
1994, 72)
At first glance, it might seem as though
preparation and improvisation are on two
distinct ends of a spectrum. “If you are
fully prepared, you won’t need to improvise,”
or “you will need to improvise if
you are not fully prepared.” However, for
actors and teachers, successful improvisation
depends on thorough preparation.
Not only must the actor know his character
and the scene, but he must be able to
read the other characters as well; not only
must the teacher know her material, but
she must understand and be able to read
her students as well for there to be effective
communication.
Half of improvisation is anticipation.
The actor in the commedia dell’arte may
not know exactly what another actor might
say, but he must know how the other characters
will act in order to react effectively
within the scenario. In much the same
way, a teacher may not know exactly what
questions will be asked, but she must listen
very carefully to her students in order to
give the appropriate response. She must
know both audience and material so well
116 COLLEGE TEACHING
that any improvisation—in this case a
deviation from the planned lesson—will
be effective communication.
Taking questions allows the teacher to
clarify or emphasize points (Rafe 1990,
127). It also reveals the students’ understanding
or misunderstanding.
Responding to questions after a talk can be
the most effective way to get your points
across to any audience. Audiences generally
remember longest what they hear last, and
they retain more of what they participate in
developing, discussing, or exploring. When
you encourage audience members to ask
questions, you evoke a higher level of interest
in what follows—your answers. (127)
Taking questions from students can be
nerve-wracking, however, if a teacher is
not thoroughly prepared. This is where
improvisational skills and deep preparation
intersect. In the classroom, improvisation
should be a tool used to enhance communication—
rewording explanations, providing
additional examples, and solidifying
arguments—not a desperate measure by
which to survive until the end of a class
period. The keys to successful improvisation
in the classroom include knowing the
material well but also knowing the students
(the audience) well enough to anticipate
the kinds of questions they will ask.
More than Words
Audiences form impressions of you before
you say a word. Your total presentation
consists of more than just content: It
includes your voice and your body language.
In fact, of the total message your
audience receives, only 7 percent comes to
them through content. The rest is comprised
of your voice (38 percent) and your
non-verbals (55 percent). (Rafe 1990, 24)
Actors call it stage business—the way
one moves, gestures, uses the voice, or
handles a prop. “Nonverbal behavior is the
most powerful tool an actor has to portray
a character . . . The same is true for persons
dealing with real life situations” (Ball
1996, 70). Teachers need to be consciously
aware of nonverbal communication elements
in order to become both better message
senders and better message receivers
(Miller 1986, 6). Both quality acting and
quality teaching require nonverbal elements
of communication in order to effectively
communicate with an audience.
The nonverbal elements of communication
are found in three areas. Paralanguage
is the vocal part of speech other
than words, including pauses, silence,
tone, pitch, rate of speech, volume, and
voice quality. Kinesics is the study of the
body’s physical movements, such as gestures,
facial expressions (including eye
contact), and posture. These will also
include the use of props (such as eyeglasses),
dress, and touching. Proxemics is the
use of space and can communicate much
about status, comfort level, and interest.
One of the most important things to
remember about all areas of nonverbal
communication behavior is that the
meaning of these nonverbal elements can
only be defined within a cultural context.
Teachers must be aware of the cultural
diversity within the classroom. For example,
making direct eye contact may be
affirming for American students but may
make a culturally traditional female
Japanese student uncomfortable. It is also
important to keep in mind that many
times, meanings can vary greatly from
individual to individual within the same
cultural context. Students from different
regions within the United States will be
comfortable with varying ranges of physical
proximity to an instructor.
Teachers must learn all they can about
their students in order to communicate
effectively with them. The use of a simple
student questionnaire at the beginning of
class can provide background information,
such as hometown, class standing, college
major, and interests. One-on-one sessions
throughout the course can help teachers to
learn about students’ personalities and
communication styles, which can contribute
to effective classroom interaction.
Used positively and consistently, nonverbals
can support the verbal messages
communicated. Teachers need to learn to
“send students positive signals that consequently
reinforce learning” (Miller 1986,
6). Used negatively, they can at best confuse
students and at worst turn them off to
both the teacher and learning (7–8). Teachers
need to show they are responsive to
students’ needs by listening to student
feedback and modifying their behavior
when appropriate. Making eye contact
with students can generate a psychological
closeness that reinforces the teacher’s verbal
expression of interest in each student.
Something as simple as coming out from
behind the podium and moving about the
classroom can help to reinforce teachers’
commitment to support their students.
Research supports the importance of
teachers’ effective use of nonverbal elements.
Nonverbal behavior reflecting
involvement and conversation skill is positively
associated with both initial judgments
of instructor competence and
favorable first impressions of course content
(Guerrero and Miller 1998, 33).
Teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors,
such as eye contact, head nods, smiles,
vocal animation, open body posture, and
other “approach-oriented behavior” have
been directly related to affective learning
and indirectly linked to increased student
classroom participation (Andersen et al.
1999, 371). And finally, teachers who
practice nonverbal immediacy behaviors
cause students to acquire or increase positive
attitudes toward the subject and/or
teacher, and in turn, this affective learning
causes students to learn cognitively
(Rodriguez, Plax, and Kearney 1996,
296). Nonverbal communication has its
most direct instructional impact on the
affective domain of learning. In addition
to learning facts and concepts, students
also learn attitudes towards the content
(Andersen 1986, 44–45).
It is equally important for the teacher to
be aware of the nonverbal messages being
sent by students. “When you speak your
audience will be giving you constant feedback
from the moment you begin” (Rafe
1990, 109). Clues—some subtle and some
not—tell how well one is communicating.
Nods, smiles, direct eye contact, forwardleaning
posture, and the like will tell the
teacher that the messages are being
received and understood. Doodling,
slouching, yawning, refusal to make eye
contact, and glazed expressions are the
not-so-subtle nonverbals telling the
teacher that communication is not happening.
If in doubt, ask questions (preferably
questions that cannot be answered
with a “yes” or a “no”), encouraging students
to verbally express their understanding
or misunderstanding of the topic. Eye
contact with the speaker, as well as a supportive,
open posture, can help establish a
more conversational tone (111).
Learning to appropriately utilize and
recognize nonverbal messages can make
a teacher’s communication more effective.
Teachers need to remember that
Vol. 53/No. 3 117
whether or not they are speaking at any
given moment, their nonverbals—intentional
and unintentional—continue to
communicate. “‘You cannot not communicate!’
Even when you are silent, you are
communicating something” (Ball 1996,
155). Teachers need to be aware of what
their students are “hearing” even when
they are not speaking.
A Double Role
The fourth level . . . is created by having our
actors play more than one role. For instance,
in the screenplay portions of the show,
Stone’s secretary, Oolie, is played by the
same actress who plays . . . Buddy Fidler’s
secretary, Donna . . . Lest any of this sound
confusing, the reader is asked to remember
that, when performed on stage, the show is
color-coded: the real life passages staged in
vivid colors, the reel life ones in glorious
black and white. (Gelbert 1990, 4–5)
One of the most challenging aspects of
teaching at a college level today is presented
by the changing characteristics of
undergraduate students. In 1995–96, 28.6
percent of the total number of undergraduate
students enrolled in four-year institutions
in the United States were over the age
of twenty-five. In two-year institutions, it
was an astonishing 51.9 percent (U.S.
Department of Education 2002, 248). Can
the needs of the nontraditional adult learner
be met with traditional teaching methods?
Do traditional undergraduates and
adult learners expect the same things of a
teacher? And can a teacher who faces a
mixed class—and is without the actor’s
luxury of exiting for a costume/character
change between scenes—fulfill the needs
of both groups of students?
According to Comadena and Semlak,
while both groups of students agree on
what makes a bad teacher, they differ in
their perceptions of how good teachers
communicate and use power in the classroom:
Adult learners, compared to traditional
undergraduates, expect a good teacher to be
less contentious, less attentive, less dominant,
and less likely to use reward power.
Conversely, traditional undergraduates,
compared to adult learners, expect an effective
teacher to be more contentious, more
attentive, more dominating, and more likely
to use reward power. (1993, 11–12)
Adult learners want to be treated as
equals in an informal classroom setting,
while traditional undergraduates expect the
formality of the teacher/student relationship
associated with teacher authority.
Knowles characterizes the traditional
relationship between student and teacher
as reactive and the required relationship
between adult learners and the teacher as
proactive (1990, 209). According to
Knowles, a teacher in a traditional classroom
depends on the student’s willingness
to be dependent, respect authority,
be committed to learning as a means to an
end (such as a degree), and maintain a
competitive relationship with fellow students.
“Traditional pedagogy conditions
the student to respond to the teacher’s
stimuli; the initiative in the transaction is
almost wholly in the teacher; the role of
the student is to react” (209). The student
requires an ability to listen uncritically,
retain information, take notes, and predict
exam questions.
Adult learners, however, look to the
expertise of the teacher to aid them in a
collaborative relationship. They show
intellectual curiosity, have some knowledge
of resources available, have a
healthy skepticism toward authority, and
are already “commit[ted] to learning as a
developmental process” (Knowles 1990,
210). For adult learners, “learning will
take place for the most part only if the
learner takes the initiative; teachers are
not as omnipresent” (209).
How does a teacher play this double
role with a mixed class of traditional
undergraduates and adult learners? The
basic tools for presentational communication
are effective for both—preparation
and organization—as both groups associate
teacher expertise with teacher effectiveness
(Comadena and Semlak 1993,
5). The key to successful classroom communication
requires the discovery of a
happy medium while presenting to the
whole class. But teachers must also
“adapt their messages to their audiences”
(3), making an effort to get to know individuals
in order to bring about effective
one-on-one communication with those
from diverse student groups.
Conclusion
Act, action, active, actor all go back to [the]
Latin [verb] agere [meaning] “do, perform.”
(Ayto 1990, 7)
To teach someone is etymologically to
“show” them something. (522)
“Show, don’t tell!” is an admonition as
appropriate to presentational verbal communication
as it is to written communication.
Any actor will tell you that there is far
more to acting than simply saying the lines
of a script. The best teachers will also
agree that there is far more to teaching
than simply the “telling” of information.
Preparation, the ability to improvise
when necessary, and knowledge of the
audience are all important elements that
contribute to a strong performance in the
classroom. Because expertise has been
shown to be an important factor in
teacher effectiveness with all students, a
teacher must know the material and have
it well-organized for the classroom. But
flexibility is also a key ingredient. Teachers
need to be able to improvise on a
theme in order to communicate with all
their students no matter their class standing,
level of knowledge, or life experience.
And finally, effective communicators
will adapt their messages to their
audiences (Comadena and Semlak 1993,
3). Teachers must learn all they can about
their students in order to communicate
effectively with them.
A good teacher is an effective “human
instrument” (Hodge 1994, 69) for communication.
Like actors, teachers utilize
not only verbal skills but a variety of
nonverbal behaviors as well to communicate
with their students. “How you
talk, how you move, how you dress,
what you mean by what you say, where
you sit . . . if you rehearse and perfect
[these] skills, you will communicate
with confidence and clarity” (Ball 1996,
179). However the scenario is played out
on any given day, the audience will reap
the benefits of a successful communicative
interaction.
Key words: theater, communication,
interaction
REFERENCES
Andersen, J. F. 1986. Instructor nonverbal
communication: Listening to our silent
messages. In Communicating in college
classrooms: New directions in teaching and
learning 26, ed. J. M. Civikly, 41–49. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Andersen, J., J. Nussbaum, L. Pecchioni, and J.
A. Grant. 1999. Interaction skills in instructional
settings. In Teaching communication:
Theory, research and methods, ed. A. L. Vangelisti,
J. A. Daly, and G. W. Friedrich,
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Ayto, J. 1990. Dictionary of word origins.
New York: Arcade.
Ball, P. A. 1996. Straight talk is more than
words: Persuasive communications; The
key to achieving your goals. Granville, OH:
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Comadena, M. E., and W. D. Semlak. 1993.
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adult learners and traditional undergraduate
students. Paper presented at the Joint Meeting
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Association and the Central States Communication
Association, Lexington, KY, April
14–18.
Divito, J. A. 1998. The interpersonal communication
book. New York: Longman.
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L. Gelbert, D. Zippel, and C. Coleman, 4–5.
New York: Applause Books.
Guerrero, L. K., and T. A. Miller. 1998. Associations
between nonverbal behaviors and
initial impressions of instructor competence
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education courses. Communication Education
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MacIntyre, P. D., and J. R. MacDonald. 1998.
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Rodriguez, J. I., T. B. Plax, and P. Kearney.
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teacher nonverbal immediacy and student
cognitive learning: Affective learning as the
central causal mediator. Communication
Education 45 (4): 293–305.
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the theatre. London: Methuen.
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NCES.
Blog assignment for week 7 discussing how important computer technology is for the learning enviroment
The limits on pushing technology should allow the student to collaborate with their classmates through the teacher's instruction on how to use the certyain software.
Online chats and instant messsaging are a great way to communicate with friends, family, and teachers when sudden questions pop in one's mind with such effect that they will not leave one's mind until they are answered. As a result, one can easily instant message or chat with a colleague about the question that will not leave your mind.
I like talking to people by chatting with kthem konline but some times it is hard to communicate with them cuase if they are like me they seldomly check their e-mails periodically, or if someone gave you their wrong e-mail address. Those are only a few technicle problems that can easily be fixed. On the otherhand, communicating with people using via chat and instan messaging is a great way to communicate based on if everything works during the instant messaging process.
I 've never used podcast before. I have not always had internet access. I have heard about podcast though. I have heard as little about how diseffective it can be, but I do not undrstand how it can be diseffective.
I really do not undserstand how videogames can be beneficial for the learning environment of a student,but I do see were videogames can access understanding of the techniques illustrated in the game. For eexample, I can see how sporting videogames can be beneficial to a videogame player, because of all the different plays used in football videogames. I can also see how history can be reflected on videogames by actoin heroes that may travel through Greek mythological times or how one would survive in ocean or in any clmate you know the charcateristics of the videogame vary about how much one can learn. On the otherhand, some researchers believe that having to much eye contact on the tv is bad for one's eyes, as well as sitting in one spot. Yes, if I had children I would let them play videogames . Because I believe that the videogames would start thier creative imagination about the undescribable world around them and how much the world has to offer.
Online chats and instant messsaging are a great way to communicate with friends, family, and teachers when sudden questions pop in one's mind with such effect that they will not leave one's mind until they are answered. As a result, one can easily instant message or chat with a colleague about the question that will not leave your mind.
I like talking to people by chatting with kthem konline but some times it is hard to communicate with them cuase if they are like me they seldomly check their e-mails periodically, or if someone gave you their wrong e-mail address. Those are only a few technicle problems that can easily be fixed. On the otherhand, communicating with people using via chat and instan messaging is a great way to communicate based on if everything works during the instant messaging process.
I 've never used podcast before. I have not always had internet access. I have heard about podcast though. I have heard as little about how diseffective it can be, but I do not undrstand how it can be diseffective.
I really do not undserstand how videogames can be beneficial for the learning environment of a student,but I do see were videogames can access understanding of the techniques illustrated in the game. For eexample, I can see how sporting videogames can be beneficial to a videogame player, because of all the different plays used in football videogames. I can also see how history can be reflected on videogames by actoin heroes that may travel through Greek mythological times or how one would survive in ocean or in any clmate you know the charcateristics of the videogame vary about how much one can learn. On the otherhand, some researchers believe that having to much eye contact on the tv is bad for one's eyes, as well as sitting in one spot. Yes, if I had children I would let them play videogames . Because I believe that the videogames would start thier creative imagination about the undescribable world around them and how much the world has to offer.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Blog assignment for week six
No, I will not use all the technicle stuff on wiki for my students. The reason why I will not is becuase if I have a hard time have a hard time registering in the wiki website, then, I know that my students will have a hard time to. I can't teach them how to use wiki technology on the computer if I do not understand it myself. I will show how they can use different search engines like yahoo or google etc to find specific information about agiven topic.
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